Last weekend, Houston celebrated the third annual Small Business Saturday. On this day each year, as we highlight the vital role of small businesses, all consumers are encouraged to shop small. This gives everyone an opportunity to say thank you to all the innovators, entrepreneurs, charitable givers and job creators who fuel our local economies. The Houston Area Urban League works with small businesses every day at our National Urban League Entrepreneurship Center. Our program is designed to work with private, public and nonprofit resources to build strong, sustainable and successful small businesses. We understand the nature of what it takes for entrepreneurs to start, grow and stay in business. Our relationship with the small-business community has helped us earn a respect and appreciation for the benefits each successful entrepreneur brings to our society.

Focusing on small-business development is important, as small businesses do more than simply create jobs - they create opportunity. Our nation has endured many obstacles in this economic recovery and things are beginning to look better for most Americans. But many of the people we help at the Urban League, especially our lower-income and minority populations, have unique challenges to joining the mainstream work force, and for some, entrepreneurship has been the solution. According to Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, many African-Americans likely turned to entrepreneurship in recent years because good-paying jobs were difficult to come by. "The unemployment rate in the black community never got back down to where it was before the recession," he says. "So now you have a bit of entrepreneurship by necessity."

Here are some of the effects entrepreneurship has had on our economy. According to the Census Bureau's 2007 survey of black business owners, the receipts produced by black businesses increased 55.1 percent to $137.5 billion. The survey, conducted by the bureau every five years, provides in-depth analysis regarding particular business groupings' sales, receipts and payroll. The number of businesses owned by black men and women grew at more than triple the national rate, said Thomas Mesenbourg, deputy director of the Census Bureau, a trend that may be linked to a long-stagnating job market.

In 2007, the number of black-owned businesses jumped to 1.9 million, a 60.5 percent increase from 2002. By comparison, the number of U.S. businesses overall rose by just 18 percent during the same period.

In 2011, $237,573,006 was awarded to Houston certified small, minority, women and disadvantaged business enterprises. Certified black-owned firms were awarded 22.1 percent ($48,391,190) of that total. While these numbers show progress, your support of small businesses can ensure we stay on the right track to economic recovery.

Since 2011, the Houston Area Urban League has taken advantage of key partnerships to help even more clients become established minority entrepreneurs through the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. We expanded our outreach to help more entrepreneurs obtain the necessary management skills that will enable them to take advantage of new business opportunities and qualify for financing that will lead to more jobs and higher levels of business growth.

This initiative is currently available in only a handful of cities. Goldman Sachs chose Houston because of its history of entrepreneurship and our robust economy.

In September 2012, Houston recorded 2.7 million payroll jobs. That is more than the job counts of 33 U.S. states. Goldman Sachs also has committed $20 million in lending capital to Houston-area small businesses. So far, more than 130 small-business owners have graduated through the program, which lasts about two months.

So here is my challenge to you: Join the Houston Area Urban League in continuing to show appreciation to our small-business owners by picking at least one small business near you and shop there this holiday season. Make it fun for yourself. Take a moment and introduce yourself to the owner. Build a relationship. This is your chance to support a local establishment that enriches our communities and ensures our economy's health throughout the year. Until we reach a sustainable recovery, we should try to shop small businesses every day. For some Houstonians, your support may empower and change their lives forever.

I encourage all small-business owners who are interested in growing their businesses to consider the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program.

To apply, go to sites.hccs.edu/10ksb/ or visit HAUL on the Web at haul.org.